Alex Pretti was fatally shot by ICE agents in the street in Minneapolis on Saturday. It comes just weeks after mother-of-three Renee Nicole Good was killed. Now, new footage of moments before he was killed reveals new details about what happened.
Alex Pretti, 37, was gunned down by ICE agents at an anti-ICE protest in Minneapolis on Saturday. The ICU nurse had worked as an Intensive Care Unit nurse at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center for around five years, according to a co-worker who asked to speak anonymously to CNN.
Several anti-ICE protests have been organized, not least after the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good a few weeks ago. Footage shows how Pretti is brought to the ground by several ICE officers, and in a video taken from a nearby shop, gunshots can be heard.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claimed an agent fired in self-defence after Pretti, who they claim had a handgun, resisted attempts to disarm him. However, eyewitnesses, several officials, and Pretti’s family have challenged that account.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed Pretti “attacked” officers. sh “brandishing” a gun. Still, no available footage shows Pretti even holding a weapon in his hand at the scene where he was shot by ICE agents.
“This individual went and impeded their law enforcement operations, attacked those officers, had a weapon on him and multiple dozens of rounds of ammunition, wishing to inflict harm on these officers, coming, brandishing like that,” Noem said Saturday.
Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino went even further, saying that the ICE agents, in fact, were the “victims.”
Anti-ICE protestor nurse Alex Pretti shot and killed
”He brought a semi-automatic weapon to a riot, assaulted federal officers, and at some point, they saw that weapon,” Bovino said. “So, I do believe (Noem) is 100% spot-on in what she said.”
The ICE agent claimed to have acted in self-defense. Reports state that the agents had unarmed Pretti.
Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told the BBC: “The officers attempted to disarm the suspect, but the armed suspect violently resisted. Fearing for his life and the lives and safety of fellow officers, an agent fired defensive shots.
“Medics on scene immediately delivered medical aid to the subject but was pronounced dead at the scene.”
However, several videos from the fatal incident show a different side. Still, no obvious evidence can suggest that Pretti had any intent to harm ICE agents as he took the streets. In one video, Pretti is clearly pictured wearing a phone in his hand, and not a gun, which the DHS has suggested. He was pushed to the sidewalk by the immigration officers.
In another video, the ICE nurse was even standing, directing traffic. When a woman was shoved to the ground, and Pretti, seemingly trying to help her, was pepper-sprayed in the face. When he returned to help the woman, several other officers appeared, taking him to the ground.
New videos of Alex Pretti murder
One agent can then be seen pushing a woman into a pile of snow, prompting Pretti to offer his help.
Other video angles show how the officers are beating Alex Pretti. One video appears to show how they remove a firearm from the ICU nurse’s lower body, before shots are fired. CBS Minnesota claims at least ten shots were heard.
Pretti’s father, Michael Pretti, described his son as a man who ‘cared deeply’ about other people.
“He cared about people deeply and he was very upset with what was happening in Minneapolis and throughout the United States with ICE, as millions of other people are upset,” Michael said.
“He thought it was terrible, you know, kidnapping children, just grabbing people off the street. He cared about those people, and he knew it was wrong, so he did participate in protests.”
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